Doing It the Muggle Way
by willow-writer
Summary: "So you're saying that spending time together during the day would ruin… whatever this is?" "What 'this' is, is what muggles call 'friends with benefits'," Hermione explained. "How can we be friends with benefits when we're not even friends?" Draco asked. No smut. Rated M for themes.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This story is FINISHED. There are five chapters and I'll be uploading one every one or two days until they are all up.

Now that I've got that out of the way, Hi. :) This is the first non one-shot fic I've written (read: actually finished) on my own and I'm really excited about it. I hope you guys like it! XD Please review and let me know what you think. :)

I'd just quickly like to thank my friends and beta readers, Jennasaurus-Rawr and ShadowNymph92. You two are amazing!

Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not mine; they were brought to life by J K Rowling. But I think you all know that. :)

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**Chapter 1**

Hermione sat on her bed with her head in her hands. She couldn't believe what she had just done! True, she had been a bit tipsy– okay, she had gotten completely sloshed – but she liked to think that even her intoxicated self had more sense and control than this!

She heard the water turn on in the bathroom. He was already up and apparently had made himself quite at home. Well, she would just have to put a stop to that, wouldn't she? She couldn't have him getting comfortable in her apartment!

Hermione got out of bed to get dressed, hoping to hold on to some shred of dignity as she kicked him out of her apartment.

"Do you remember where I left my clothes?"

Hermione spun around in the process of buttoning her shirt to find Malfoy standing in her bedroom doorway, a towel slung low around his hips. However annoyed she was at herself for the happenings of the previous night, she had to admit that her old school enemy was extremely easy on the eye.

"Can't you knock?" she asked, scrambling to regain some semblance of her usual composure.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "I didn't really think it necessary after last night; not after all the wild se –"

"I get it!" Hermione cut him off loudly, holding up her hand to stop him and squeezing her eyes shut as though in pain.

"Er, I think your shirt is in the hallway," she said, regretfully trying to recall the details of the previous evening. "And I think your pants are in the lounge."

Draco left and returned holding the two items of clothing. "Any idea where we left my boxers? I seem to recall you getting rid of them rather frantically," he said with a smirk. "I just can't remember where."

Hermione blushed deeply and instead of answering turned her gaze towards the window; a pair of blue boxers were hanging from the curtain rail.

"Ah yes, it's all coming back now." Draco chuckled. He retrieved his boxers and dressed, not bothered in the slightest by Hermione's presence.

Realising that she was staring, Hermione blushed again and hurried out into the kitchen. She put the kettle on and leant against the bench. Why was she feeling so shy, so embarrassed, so uncomfortable? She had never felt this awkward after a one night stand – not that she made a habit of them. But then again, she had never before regretted sleeping with someone quite as much as she did right now.

"Why in Merlin's name did I invite him home?" she muttered to herself.

"I seem to recall it was something about being lonely. But it probably had more to do with the weasel's engagement to that dumb blonde." Draco had just entered the kitchen, now fully clothed, which unfortunately did not lessen his appeal.

Something in his tone made Hermione ignore the first part of his comment. "How do you know she's dumb?" she asked quickly.

Draco scowled. "Victoria is about as smart as a flobberworm." Hermione raised her eyebrows in a way of prompting him to answer her question. "We had a fling a while back. Personality of a horklump , but Merlin's beard was she hot ! And in bed… Wow!"

"That's not really something a girl wants to hear after she's just slept with a guy," Hermione said frowning.

"Why do you care?" Draco asked, now helping himself to a cup of tea. He had of course taken the mug Hermione had intended to use herself. "Last night didn't mean anything."

"Not the point," she sighed.

He sat down at the kitchen bench, facing Hermione. "What happened between you and the weasel anyway?"

"Why do you care?" Hermione repeated his question as she grabbed another mug and poured herself a cup of tea.

"I just want to know why he would trade you for Victoria. I mean, something must have happened to make him give you up," he said nonchalantly.

Hermione, who had just taken a sip of her tea, sprayed it everywhere. "Excuse me?"

"Unlike the future Mrs Weasley, you can actually hold an interesting and intelligent conversation," Draco shrugged . "Also, have you seen yourself lately?" he added, giving her an appraising look, his eyes coming to rest on her chest.

Feeling uncomfortable, Hermione crossed her arms as though trying to shield herself from Draco's gaze. Her new stance, however, only worked to accentuate her cleavage.

Draco put down his mug. "How's about we skip breakfast and head back to your room?"

"Merlin's pants! You are infuriating!"

"You didn't think so last night," he said, smirking.

"Last night was a mistake," Hermione said, trying to convince herself as much as Draco. "I never want to think about it again. And I certainly don't want to repeat it, so you need to leave."

Draco's face betrayed a second of shock before he arranged his features into a blank expression. "As you wish." He stood up and gave a sweeping bow. "Owl me if you ever want some more interesting company." He let himself out, leaving Hermione to marvel at how easy it had been to get rid of him and thinking that if she ever saw him again it would be much too soon.

...

Two weeks later found Hermione sitting at the bar of a muggle pub called 'The Moose'. She had just attended Ron and Victoria's engagement party and was feeling downright sorry for herself. Not that she should. She was the one who had dumped him, after all.

Unfortunately though, that did not mean that she didn't still love him. She was happy for Ron – she wanted him to be happy – but she couldn't help feeling bitter about him getting engaged so soon after their break-up. And it certainly it didn't help that Hermione was still single and the only man she had slept with since Ron was a complete nimrod.

Draco sat down next to her. "You know, there are plenty of pubs in Diagon Alley. Why did you have to pick this place?" He looked around with an air of disgust.

"And yet you still came," Hermione said airily before taking a long swig of her beer.

"And yet I did," repeated Draco, though he looked as though he might now be regretting it. "I was actually quite surprised to receive your owl; you couldn't seem to get rid of me fast enough before. I'm curious – why did you want to meet me tonight?" He ordered a shot of firewhiskey from the barman, who gave him a peculiar look before pouring him a normal muggle whiskey. Draco took a small sip and must have approved because he downed the rest quickly before ordering another for himself and one for Hermione.

Hermione threw back the drink before shivering and answering Draco's question. "I want to get blind drunk with someone, and you are the only man I know who I don't work with or is not currently at Ron's engagement party. And I'm pretty sure you won't judge me for my terribly misguided actions."

Draco arched an eyebrow. "And why aren't you at said party?"

"I left early," Hermione explained, ordering a round of vodka shots, her beer forgotten. "I can't stand being around the two of them. They're disgustingly soppy."

"Jealous?"

"No! Contrary to popular belief, _I_ left _him_! Not the other way around," she said grumpily, taking another shot.

"Then why all the drinking? And why do you need me?"

Hermione glared at him. "I didn't call you here to play psychologist."

"Then why –" she cut him off in the most direct way possible, putting her mouth on his.

"Why do you think?" she whispered, pulling back to look him in the eye.

They soon came stumbling out of the pub. They barely made it behind a dumpster before Draco turned on the spot, pulling Hermione with him.

Hermione woke once again to the sound of the shower, though this time she was not in her own bed. She couldn't remember much of the previous night, but she presumed they had gone to Draco's house after leaving the pub. She got up and dressed quickly, hoping that with some luck she would be able to leave before Draco got out of the shower. She wasn't usually one to use and leave without so much as a goodbye, but she did not want a repeat of the awkwardness of last time.

It seemed however, that luck was not on her side. Just as she was collecting her bag, Draco walked into the room. He was again dressed (if you could call it that) in only a towel.

"Leaving so soon?" he asked, running a hand through his still wet hair.

"I, uh, need to get to work," Hermione said hurriedly; she wasn't able to think up a better response, distracted as she was following the water drops dripping down his arms and chest.

"It's Sunday." Draco pointed to the _Sunday Prophet_ resting on his bedside table for proof. "No ministry department heads work on Sundays."

"How did you –"

"Hermione, you're the youngest ever department head. Everyone knows that. Especially fellow ministry workers." He said slowly and clearly, as though he was talking to someone incompetent.

"Oh."

"So?" Draco raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Last night was a mistake."

"You make a mistake the first time. The second time is a calculated decision. You knew what was going to happen when you owled me last night," Draco challenged.

Hermione sunk onto the edge of the bed. Why did Malfoy have to be right?

"Fine," she said, "but that doesn't make it any less wrong."

"Merlin, Hermione, it was just a bit of sex!"

"Draco, we hate each other," Hermione reminded him.

He smiled and nodded, making Hermione wonder what he was thinking. He moved to his closet and started getting dressed. When she didn't move for a few minutes he chuckled.

"What?" asked Hermione.

"Weren't you leaving?"

Hermione glared at him as she got up and walked out of the room. She paused for just a second outside Draco's room, realising she had no idea how to get to the front door. Her pride wouldn't allow her to give Draco the satisfaction of asking him for help, so she decided to find her own way. Turning left, Hermione walked passed a few closed doors before turning a corner and reaching the stairs. Thinking that she must be on the right track, she descended the stairs and found herself in a huge library. The room was about ten times the size of her apartment and had three levels of balconies running around the walls. Stunned, Hermione took a few steps further into the room then stopped herself; she was supposed to be leaving, not examining Draco Malfoy's library. But it wasn't just a library; it was enormous, gorgeous and elegant, the perfect library. This was the kind of library she had dreamed of having her whole life. How was it that someone like Malfoy deserved to have something as beautiful as this?

_His overflowing Gringotts vault, that's how,_ she told herself, breaking her daze. She was about to turn around and head back up the stairs when she heard someone cough behind her. Hermione spun around to find Draco standing there, wearing only his jeans.

A moment later Draco coughed again, and Hermione realised she had been staring, once again, at his toned torso – the frequency with which she saw it did not seem to be affecting her appreciation for Draco's body. She blinked a few times trying to clear her head, firmly reminding herself that she didn't even _like_ Draco.

"You went the wrong way," Draco told her, unperturbed by Hermione's reaction to his sudden, half-clothed, appearance. "I didn't want you to get lost."

He started walking away and when Hermione didn't immediately follow him he asked, "Coming?"

Hermione's gaze had found a shelf of ancient looking books to her right and she struggled to tear her eyes from it before following Draco.

She expected him to walk back up the stairs, but instead he skirted around the left of them and walked through a door hidden between the wall of the stairs and a towering bookshelf. Hermione took one last look at the library before scurrying through the door. As they made their way down a corridor, one wall of which was made of glass and looked out on a spectacular garden, Hermione began to wonder if she was in Malfoy Manor. She voiced her question just as they reached the entrance hall.

"Merlin, no," Draco replied. "Do you honestly think I'd want to live in that place alone after all that happened there?" If Hermione's ears were to be trusted, Draco's voice wavered slightly. She wondered if he was remembering the same thing as she was. "No, this is Malfoy Hall; much smaller and much less depressing."

She didn't know how to respond to that so she just stood there awkwardly until Draco walked over to the door and held it open for her. "Well, er, bye," Hermione said, as she rushed through the open door.

...

The next time they met, Hermione had just been to a Weasley family dinner. Even though she and Ron were no longer dating she was still expected to attend and she couldn't stand to let Mrs Weasley down. She also had a sneaking suspicion that Ginny would curse her into oblivion if she didn't go; the youngest Weasley was even less fond of Victoria than she had been of Fleur.

Hermione was sitting in the same muggle pub when Draco walked through the door. This time she didn't wait for him to sit down (she was already sufficiently drunk). She stood up and walked over to him, grabbing his arm as she went. She pulled him outside and down an alleyway. Draco only had time to ask "What happened this time?" before Hermione pulled him into the suffocating oblivion of disapparation.

They landed in her living room.

"Ron happened," Hermione growled.

The following morning Hermione woke up to a quiet house. She dressed and made her way out to the kitchen where she found Draco sitting at the bench, cup of tea once again clutched between his hands. He looked up as she walked in and nodded towards a second cup of tea. She took it gratefully, surprised that he had thought to pour her one as well.

"Why are you still here?" she asked him.

"I can leave if you want me to," Draco said quickly.

"That's not what I meant. I just expected you to have left already."

"I guess I don't like to fuck and fly," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "But don't tell anyone. It'll ruin my reputation," he added, winking.

Hermione - not knowing quite what to do with that - ignored his crude choice of words and sipped her tea. It was surprisingly good – just the right amount of milk and not too sweet. She assumed Draco had made it using magic.

"So Malfoy Hall, huh? That's very original," she said.

"Yeah, well, originality isn't something Malfoy's have been known for," he said wryly.

They sat in silence for a while before Hermione's curiosity got the better of her. "I've never heard of Malfoy Hall. Is it not as old as Malfoy Manor?"

"No, and it's not as infamous. It's only about 200 years old. My grandfather left it to me. Probably in the hope that I would use the cellar to imprison muggleborns or something." He scoffed, and Hermione could sense some underlying bitterness in his tone.

"I guess I didn't see much, but it didn't really seem like a place that was built by someone devoted to the Dark Arts."

"I've done a bit of work on it in the past few years. Mostly I've just put in more windows and painted over all the dark walls."

This statement surprised Hermione even more. She couldn't really picture Draco Malfoy wanting to bring more light into any place. Draco noticed the expression on her face and when he questioned her she hesitated before admitting her surprise at his redecoration choices.

His expression remained blank as he said, "Yeah, well I'm not the same Dark Arts loving, aspiring Death Eater I was when we were at school, you know."

An uncomfortable silence followed. Hermione was the one to break it. "The library – it's, um, it's beautiful."

"That was another change I made." Grateful for a discussion topic, Draco continued. "The basic structure and layout was already there, of course, but I painted it and fixed up the balustrades and bannisters. And I got rid of a lot of the books."

"Why would you get rid of books?" Hermione asked, horrified.

"You'd have me keep books detailing the best ways to torture muggles and muggleborns?"

"Oh," Hermione said, looking down into her half empty cup. It wasn't until later that she realised he had used 'muggleborns' rather than 'mudbloods'.

"Didn't think so." After a moment's pause Draco finished his cup of tea and stood up. "Well, I guess I'd better be going."

Hermione nodded. She said a quick goodbye as she opened the door to let him out. Once Draco was gone, she leaned her back against the front door and slid to the ground, knees pulled up to her chest.

What was she doing? She was actually enjoying Draco's company. Draco _Malfoy_, the boy who tried to make her existence as miserable as possible in school; whose aunt had tortured her and whose father had tried to turn her and her friends over to Voldemort. Was it really possible he had changed as much as he said?

_Well he must have,_ she answered herself; _the Malfoy I knew at Hogwarts wouldn't have wanted to be alone in the same room as me, let alone sleep with me!_

Even if he had changed, it wasn't at all like her to have such a casual relationship like this. Hell, it wasn't even a relationship – more a convenience. Hermione put her head in her hands, head spinning with her predicament. Eventually she decided she needed to discuss a thing or two with Draco; if things were going to continue the way they were going, they needed to set up some boundaries.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! This one is quite a lot shorter but I felt it was important to end it where I did. Chapter 3 will be closer to the length of the first chapter, and it'll be up tomorrow night, so I hope you can forgive me for the length of this one. :)

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**Chapter 2**

"This place has a terrible name," Draco said as he walked up behind Hermione.

Yet again she had owled him to meet her. 'The Moose' seemed to have become their unofficial meeting place.

"I guess the owner must really like moose," Hermione said as she nodded to the many moose heads that adorned the walls.

Draco looked around the pub for a moment, a look of distain on his face. "It reminds me of the gaming room at the Manor, except that instead of moose my father had an array of magical animals he and my ancestors had killed, stuffed and mounted." He sighed and changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on anything to do with his father. "Let me guess: you've just seen Ron and Vicky." he ventured.

Hermione nodded with a grimace, taking a long pull of her beer.

"Do you realise that every time you see them, you want to see me?"

"That's not true!" denied Hermione.

Draco raised a challenging brow.

"Okay, so maybe it is. What's your point?"

"Am I your rebound guy?" he asked, laughing a little.

"No! You're…" Hermione stopped. Was telling him the truth – that he had just been in the right place at the right time – too brutal?

"I'm what?"

She decided not. "You're convenient, just there at the right time," she shrugged. "And I guess you're the guy that Ron would hate me being with the most. If he ever found out we slept together he would consider it the ultimate betrayal."

She smirked at the thought of Ron's face blending in with his hair as he blushed in anger.

"I see. So, essentially, you're using me." It was a statement, not a question.

"Shamelessly," Hermione admitted. She downed the rest of her beer before adding, "But you don't seem to mind."

...

"You were right," Draco said as Hermione sat up in bed.

"I usually am," she stated groggily, "but what was I right about this time?"

"That I don't mind." When Hermione continued to appear confused, Draco continued. "That you're using me. If that's how you use people, you can use me anytime."

"Oh." Hermione didn't know how to respond to that. It was not the kind of admittance she had ever expected from Draco.

"No shower this morning?" she asked instead, changing the subject. "Have you decided that you no longer need to scrub all traces of mudblood off your body?"

"Something like that," he smiled, surprising Hermione again. That is until he added, "And I thought you might like to join me this time."

"No thanks," said Hermione.

"Have it your way. But your way means we both lose out." Draco winked at her before getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom. He smirked to himself as he noticed that Hermione couldn't help but watch him go.

When he entered the kitchen ten minutes later, Hermione was making two cups of tea.

"You know, it would be faster if you used magic to heat the water," he pointed out as she poured water from the kettle and dipped in the teabag.

"I prefer the muggle way. A lot of things would be faster if I used magic, but that doesn't make the end product any better, or the process more satisfying," she said as she took a coaster from the end of the bench and placed Draco's tea on it. "Anyway, you haven't complained about the way I make tea before, so it can't be that bad."

"True." Draco conceded, picking up his tea and cradling the warm mug in his hands.

They sat silently across from each other, each sipping the hot liquid.

"Why do you prefer muggle bars?" Draco inquired.

"Well, for one thing, I'm less likely to run into people from work," answered Hermione as she blew on her cup of tea. "And for some reason I don't get as bad of a hangover from muggle alcohol."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Draco said. His eyebrows knotted together as he considered the fact. "It's interesting."

"Mmm," Hermione said over her steaming mug.

Once again they fell into silence. Hermione was surprised to find that it wasn't an awkward or uncomfortable silence, but rather the kind of silence two friends might find themselves in when they have run out of things to talk about.

Again, it was Draco that spoke first. And for the third time that morning she was surprised by what he said. "Do you have plans for this morning?"

"Not really," Hermione said curiously. "I was just going to do some cleaning and start a book that's been sitting on my shelf for Godric knows how long. Why?"

Draco looked around the room. "Cleaning?" he asked, dubious. The room looked pretty clean from where he was sitting. "As riveting as that sounds, I think I have a slightly better offer. I was going to ask if you'd like to get brunch."

"Brunch?"

"Yes, brunch. You know – a meal that combines breakfast and lunch."

"I know what it is!" Hermione told him. "I'm just not sure why you're asking me to brunch."

"Because I'm hungry…" Draco said slowly, as though she was a bit slow.

"I'm sure one of your house elves could whip you up something to eat," she pointed out, still not really understanding why he wanted to have brunch – or any meal for that matter – with her.

"I don't have any house elves," Draco informed her. He graciously ignored the look of unadulterated shock that crossed Hermione's face. "And I thought a day time outing might make a nice change to all our, er, night time activities. You know, mix things up a bit."

It took Hermione a while to process his comment before she responded. These were the kind of boundaries she had been thinking about addressing the other day. "The whole reason we have these 'night time activities' is because we don't spend any other time together."

"So you're saying that spending time together during the day would ruin… whatever this is?" He waved his finger between them.

"What 'this' is, is what muggles call 'friends with benefits'," Hermione explained, though she wasn't sure when she had come to that conclusion. "That's what it's called when two people sleep together on a reasonably regular basis without all the emotional entanglements that come with a relationship."

"_Friends _with benefits?" Draco asked, putting strong emphasis on the word friends. "How can we be friends with benefits when we're not even friends?"

Hermione glared at him. "We don't actually have to be _friends_ to be friends with benefits."

"Trust muggles to come up with something that makes absolutely no sense," Draco said, but seeing the look Hermione gave him, he quickly added, "Kidding! I'm only kidding!" Hermione rolled her eyes as Draco thought for a moment. "So, if we're friends with benefits, wouldn't that imply that I'm entitled to these benefits as well?" he asked.

"Was that your twin in my bed last night?" Hermione asked him, eyebrows raised.

"I mean, does it work both ways? Do I get to owl you whenever I feel like meaningless sex?"

"Er, I guess so," said Hermione slowly, not sure she was happy with this change in their relationship, despite knowing it was her own fault for bringing it up.

Draco grinned and looked around. "I need to find me an owl." Hermione hit him. He put his hands up as though surrendering. "I'm kidding! But does this mean you've decided sleeping with me isn't so wrong after all?" he probed.

"No. I think it just means I've accepted that I can't be perfect all the time –" Draco feigned a heart attack here and Hermione hit him again, "– and I'm ok with it as long as no one finds out."

"Does that mean I'm sworn to secrecy?" Draco asked.

"Yes."

"But we are going to continue enjoying the perks of this friends with benefits thing?"

"Yes…" Hermione said again, though less certain this time.

"Deal." Draco stuck out his hand for Hermione to shake. She took it, wondering what on Earth she had gotten herself into. She was not completely sure that she was pleased about it.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **As promised, this chapter is longer than the last one. I think it might be my favourite chapter of the five, so I hope you love it as much as I do. :)

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**Chapter 3**

Over the next couple of months, the occasions on which Hermione and Draco took advantage of their new arrangement became more and more regular and the times at which Draco owled Hermione were becoming ever increasingly inconvenient and embarrassing. One evening she had been having dinner at Harry and Ginny's when an owl had burst through the kitchen door and dropped a letter on her plate. Recognising the writing immediately, Hermione had stuffed the letter into her pocket without opening it. Another time, she had been in a very important meeting when her assistant, Davina, had slipped her a sealed envelope explaining that the sender had said it was urgent. Hermione had opened the envelope to find a hastily scrawled note in an all too familiar cursive:

_How about a quickie in the broom cupboard on the 4__th__ floor?_

Mortified, she had crumpled up the note and tossed it into her bag.

The worst had been one Friday when Ginny had come to the Ministry to have lunch with Hermione. The two friends were settled in Hermione's office, nibbling on sandwiches and discussing how much they hoped Victoria would come down with a terrible case of Dragon Pox when Draco had barged in without knocking.

"Hey, Granger, do you want to fuuuuu – Weasley. What are you doing here?" He asked, mentally hitting himself on the head.

Ginny scowled at him. "I came to have lunch with my best friend. What the hell are you doing, barging in here?"

Hermione tried to hide her smirk. "Yes, Malfoy. Can't you knock?" she asked, attempting to sound angry.

"I, er," he looked to Hermione for help and when she didn't seem inclined to give any he quickly tried to compose his expression into one of irritation. "I came to ask if, er, Granger could fucking explain to me what that form was doing on my desk this morning. It's not my job to follow up your 'Inhumane Treatment of Magical Creatures' investigations!" Quite pleased with himself for coming up with a cover so quickly, Draco looked at Hermione and raised his eyebrows, waiting to see how she would respond.

"Excuse me?" Hermione said.

"Why the fuck was there a follow up investigation form from your department on my desk this morning?" he spat.

"I don't know…" Hermione said.

Draco stared at her. In his opinion, Hermione was doing a pretty rubbish job of playing along with his story. Just as he was about to walk out and leave her to explain to Ginny, Hermione spoke.

"Oh, it must have been the one meant for David Malloy. I gave it to Davina this morning; she must have delivered it to the wrong desk. Sorry, send it back to me and I'll get it to the right person."

"If your assistant is confusing David Malloy with me, you should probably think about getting a new assistant," Draco said snarkily before stalking out of Hermione's office.

"What an arse!" Ginny exclaimed before Draco had even closed the door behind him, most likely hoping he would hear her.

Hermione tried to stifle a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Ginny asked her friend. "He is a total arse."

Managing to return her expression to one of mild disinterest, Hermione nodded and took a big bite of her sandwich so she wouldn't be required to say anything further.

Once Ginny had left after lunch, Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment and wrote Draco a note. It said simply, _Tonight. My place._ As an afterthought she added, _If you can wait that long, idiot._ She folded it into an aeroplane and enchanted it to fly to Draco.

She only had to wait fifteen minutes to get a reply.

_Be there at 10_ ;)was his response.

When Hermione arrived home from work that evening she barely had time to change before there was a knock on the door. Smirking at Draco's impatience, she swung open the door.

"You're early…" She trailed off as she saw who was waiting on the other side.

"Pardon?" Ginny asked confused. "I hadn't realised you were expecting me."

"What? Oh, er, no, I was expecting a, um, delivery," Hermione said, trying to cover up her mistake. She and Draco would have to be more careful if they were going to keep their affair from Ginny. "What are you doing here?" She stood back to let her friend in. It was only six o'clock after all – she still had plenty of time before Draco was due to arrive.

Ginny gave Hermione a piercing look, seeing right through the lie, but decided to let it pass. "I brought pizza!" she said, holding out the box. "Harry's gone out with Ron so I thought it might be nice to have a girls' night. Also, I accidently took your scarf when I left your office today," she added as she handed over Hermione's purple scarf.

"Oh, haha. Thank you! And, yeah, that would be nice." Hermione tried to smile. "But, er, it can't be a late one. I, er, have to get up early tomorrow. I have a report to finish for work."

_Yeah, right. Sure you do_, Ginny thought to herself. To Hermione, she said, "No problem." She put the pizza on the coffee table, taking a slice and making herself comfortable on the couch. Once Hermione was also settled with a slice of pizza in her hand, Ginny pounced. "So what's his name?"

Hermione choked on her pizza. "Who's name?"

"The guy you are obviously meeting tonight."

Hermione's cheeks reddened. "I'm not meeting anyone tonight. I told you, I have to get - ,"

"– Up early for work. Right." Ginny cut her off with a sceptical look. "You know I'll find out who it is soon enough. Resistance is futile," Ginny said, winking at her friend. "Shall we watch a movie?"

Grateful that Ginny had changed the subject, Hermione agreed to a movie and let Ginny choose the sappiest, girliest movie she owned.

They watched mostly in silence, except for the frequent moments when Ginny screamed at the TV trying to tell the characters what do to. Though she had spent many hours getting used to Hermione's TV, Ginny still had a habit of trying to converse with the actors on screen. Usually Hermione found this hilarious, but tonight she couldn't relax; she kept checking the clock above the TV every ten minutes.

When the movie finished, Ginny insisted that it was Hermione's turn to pick a movie. This was despite the fact that the latter kept dropping big hints that Ginny should leave. Resigning herself to losing the argument, Hermione tried to pick the shortest movie she had. It was already eight thirty – Draco would be there in only ninety minutes. Hermione began to pray he would be late, but she knew it was futile. Draco was never late.

The second movie finished at five minutes to ten and Hermione jumped off the couch, stretching and feigning a huge yawn.

"It's been great seeing you, Gin, but I'm really tired. Sorry."

"Fine, fine, you win," Ginny said, raising her hands in defeat. "I'll leave, but you have to tell me all about him the next time I see you!"

Hermione merely nodded as she ushered Ginny to the door. On the way, Ginny caught sight of a book sitting on the dining table.

"Oh! Can I borrow this, Hermione?" Ginny asked, picking up the copy of _Tuesdays with Morrie. _"I've been meaning to read it for ages!"

"Sure, take it," Hermione said quickly, desperate to get Ginny out of her apartment as quickly as possible.

Hermione ushered Ginny the rest of the way to the door. After hugging Hermione goodbye, Ginny opened the door and collided with someone who was standing on the other side. Grumbling, she took a step back, looked up and froze, staring at the man in front of her. She was surprised enough to see Draco Malfoy standing on Hermione's Welcome mat, but the pizza box he was currently try to save from falling out of his hands confused her even more.

Hermione felt her stomach drop. Her mortification was enough to prevent any speech. However, she couldn't help but laugh. Draco had decided to bring pizza as well, but being collided with had caused him to drop the top box. His quick reflexes had helped him to save one box, but the other pizza was now splattered all over the ground.

Draco sent a questioning look at the laughing Hermione before smiling at Ginny and greeting her like an old friend. "Fancy seeing you again, Weasley. I see it's true what they say: these past few years have treated you nicely. Tragically, the same cannot be said for this pizza."

Ginny stared, gobsmacked, from Draco to Hermione and back again, before giving a sly smirk that could have given Draco a run for his money.

"Are you a pizza delivery boy now?"

"Actually – " Draco began, but before he could get any further Hermione interrupted.

"I can explain," she said.

"I'm sure you can, but I don't really think there's any need," Ginny said. "Malfoy here brought you some pizza. Unfortunately for you he doesn't make a very good delivery boy, especially because you got your pizza delivery four hours ago. Well I hope you like..." she opened the pizza box that was still resting safely in Draco's hands, "… pineapple," she finished, scrunching up her nose.

Draco shifted the box to one hand so his other hand was free to tap Ginny on the head. "Is your brain still in there?"

"Excuse me?" Ginny asked, taken aback.

"Well, you must have lost your mind if you are questioning Hermione's liking of pineapple," he said seriously.

"What are you on about?" Ginny looked to Hermione for help, but her friend had resumed her laughing.

"Everyone likes pineapple! And those who don't have lost their minds."

"Right… Well in that case I'll be going now." Ginny gave Hermione a quick hug and began to leave. She had only taken a few steps before she stopped and turned around to look at Hermione. "I can't say I blame you for wanting a piece of that."

It was Hermione's turn to look flabbergasted as Ginny winked at her and disapparated.

"You've already eaten?" Draco asked, seeming a little disheartened.

"Yeah, Ginny brought pizza too."

"Ah well, all the more for me," Draco said. Then smirking, added, "What happened to not telling anyone?"

"Oh shut up and get inside," Hermione said, performing a quick cleaning spell on the ground before slamming the door behind them. "And give me the pizza. We wouldn't want you to drop this one as well."

….

That weekend Hermione made excuses not to attend the Weasley Sunday Lunch and during the week did all she could to avoid Ginny. It had been awkward enough for Ginny to have been in her office when Malfoy had come bursting in, and then for her to have found him on her doorstep; Hermione didn't think she could stand answering all the questions Ginny was sure to fire her way next time they met. She had, however, sent Ginny an owl the following morning to beg her not to tell anyone, especially Harry or Ron. Ginny had sent her response by return owl:

_Do you really think I'm that stupid? Your secret is safe with me. ;)_

_P.S. When did Malfoy become so drool-worthy? _

Thankfully Draco had left before that note was delivered; Hermione was certain that had he seen it, he would have become insufferable.

When the following weekend rolled around though, Hermione could no longer continue avoiding Ginny. Two weeks earlier, she had invited Ginny and Harry to come over for dinner that Saturday night – something she was very careful to make sure Draco knew.

When Hermione opened her front door that night however, it was to find Ginny alone, and beaming.

"Harry couldn't come," she announced happily.

"Sure he couldn't," grumbled Hermione.

"I don't know why you look so sad," Ginny said. "You used to love our girls' nights."

"Oh, I do!" Hermione assured her. "I just fear this is going to become a try-to-get-as-much-juicy-information-out-of-Hermione-as-possible night."

Ginny laughed. "Starting with: Is his butt really as firm as it looks?"

Hermione tried to keep her face straight as she hit Ginny with a pillow. "Can we please talk about something else?"

"Okay."

"Thank you," Hermione said relieved.

"What are his abbs like?"

This time Hermione pulled out her wand and set three pillows on Ginny.

"Ouch! Oof! Stop! Okay, okay! We won't talk about Malfoy's sexiness!" Hermione set the pillows back on the couch.

"Thank you. Will you at least tell me why you started sleeping with DRACO freaking MALFOY? Apart from his perfect butt and abbs – and don't deny he has them… I know, I walked into them. I think I still have the bruises."

Hermione laughed. "It was kind of an accident," she told Ginny.

"Don't tell me you're going with the 'he tripped and fell into me' story. Come on, Hermione! I need more than that! Where, when, how drunk were you?"

"Fine," Hermione agreed exasperated. "We ran into each other at 'The Lucky Leprechaun'. Right after Ron announced his engagement. And _extremely_."

"That long? Well done Hermione! So are you going out? Or are you just playing fuck buddies?"

Hermione hit Ginny again. "We are most certainly not going out! And Merlin, Ginny! Could you be less crude?"

"What? It's what you are, isn't it?"

"I prefer to think of it as friends with benefits," Hermione explained primly.

"Same thing, different name. Now tell me: How is he in bed?" Ginny winked.

At this point, Hermione threatened to tell Ron that Harry and Ginny had slept together in his bed, and after that the conversation turned to other things.

….

A month or so later, Hermione woke up feeling very warm and snuggly. It took her a moment to realise why: Draco's torso was pressed against her back and his arm was slung over her. As soon as she realised his, Hermione stiffened. This was definitely not normal. She had only woken up once previously to find Draco still in bed and then he had not been asleep. She hoped he would turn over or take his arm away before he woke up, otherwise it would end up being very awkward. Friends with benefits did not snuggle!

Hermione felt Draco stirring and pretended to be asleep, deepening her breathing. At least she could pretend she didn't know they had been unconsciously spooning. She felt Draco's body tense beside hers as he realised the position he was in, before he quickly got out of bed and headed into the bathroom. Once she heard the water turn on, Hermione climbed out of bed and dressed before going into the kitchen to put on the kettle.

Draco emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later towelling his hair dry. He had a frown on his face which, when he noticed Hermione looking at him, he quickly turned into a smile. "So I watched that movie the other day," he told her.

"What movie?"

"'Friends with Benefits'. It explained a few things," he said, as he grabbed his cup of tea and took his usual place at the bench.

Hermione choked on her tea. "_You_ watched 'Friends with Benefits'?"

"Yeah," Draco said. "Shouldn't I have?"

"_You_ watched a muggle movie?"

"I've been known to enjoy quite a few muggle movies in my time, actually," he informed her.

Hermione opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to form a response.

"Oh, don't be so surprised. It's not like I went and bought it from a muggle shop – I did use magic to get it," he said, adding, "And shut your mouth. You look like a confused Hufflepuff."

Hermione ignored Draco's Hufflepuff jibe. "I just can't imagine you sitting through a movie, especially one made by muggles, staring muggle actors! How do you stop yourself from screaming insults at them?"

For a second, Hermione thought she could see a shadow of hurt on Draco's face. "I'm not as much of an asshole as I used to be, Hermione. And I'm certainly not the huge muggle-hater you think I am."

"I don't believe it," Hermione breathed. She had meant that she believed him, and was surprised that it could actually be true, but Draco took it literally.

"I'll prove it to you," he said. "You have a TV, yes?" Hermione nodded. "Okay. Friday night. You and me are going to watch a muggle movie. Your pick. I'll bring the popcorn. Deal?"

He said this all very fast and Hermione found herself nodding in spite of herself, more from surprise than anything.

"Great. Well, I'd better go. I'm going to be late for work," Draco said. He finished the rest of his tea and got up to let himself out.

Hermione didn't move as she watched him go. Her mouth was hanging open again. She couldn't believe it. She had a date. With Draco Malfoy!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **I'd just like to thank those that have taken the time to send me a review. It's fantastic to get your opinions on the story and it really does make me smile.

This is the second last chapter... Hope you like it! :)

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**Chapter 4**

Hermione didn't see Draco for the next couple of days. As Friday got nearer, she found herself agonizing over the upcoming evening. It was all wrong. Friends with benefits were not meant to spoon or snuggle, and they certainly were not meant to spend an evening alone together watching movies! She tried to tell herself that as long as there was no snuggling during the movie (and the night ended the same way it usually did) it would all be okay.

She spent a good deal of Thursday evening trying to pick the perfect movie. She tried to find one that definitely did not scream – or even whisper – 'date night'. In the end she settled on the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall. It was certainly not a chick flick, or a romantic comedy of any sort.

Draco arrived promptly at 8.00pm, with the popcorn as promised, though Hermione was surprised to find he had brought muggle microwave popcorn – she hadn't even realised he knew what a microwave was! She decided that after her mistake earlier in the week it was probably best not to say anything. Hermione cooked the popcorn – Draco's knowledge of microwaves did not extend to how to use them. They stood awkwardly in the kitchen as they waited for the popping to slow down, then made their way to the lounge where Hermione put the movie in the DVD player.

"What are we watching?" Draco asked, making himself comfortable on one end of the couch.

"James Bond," Hermione replied as she sat herself down on the opposite end of the couch, strategically placing the popcorn bowl between them. "Do you know them?"

"Do I know James Bond?" scoffed Draco, pretending to be insulted. "Do I – Of course I know James Bond! 'I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy', remember? They're my favourites."

"Really?" Hermione asked surprised.

"Yeah. At first I didn't get it. I mean, the idea of killing people with a piece of metal seemed so stupid when you could just use the killing curse and be done with it. But then I came to appreciate the beauty of the fight scenes. I still think magic is more effective if you want to kill someone, but muggles have done a pretty decent job with what they've got. Some of the fight choreography in these movies, and the effects they use to make the gun fire are pretty impressive." Draco finished his speech to find Hermione staring at him, completely dumbfounded. "What? I like my movies," he said defensively, blushing slightly.

"Uh-huh," was all Hermione could manage.

"Which one are we watching?"

"Skyfall."

"Oh, great! I haven't seen that one yet," Draco grinned.

Hermione pressed play, still staring at Draco as the movie began.

For most of the first half of the movie, Hermione was tense. She was acutely aware of every move Draco made, from crossing or uncrossing his legs to shifting his position on the couch. Whenever their hands met in the popcorn bowl she flinched. The fourth time this happened, Draco asked, "Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Why?" she said a little too quickly.

"You just don't seem yourself."

"I'm fine. Really," she replied just as there was a massive explosion on the screen.

Draco nodded, dropping it, and they went back to watching the movie in silence. However, during the rest of the movie Draco kept glancing over at Hermione, noticing how she slowly relaxed as they got towards the end of the film.

When the credits began to roll, Hermione pressed the 'stop' button on the remote. As she reached to put it back on the coffee table, Draco grabbed her hand. She looked at him, startled.

"Hermione, I – " he began.

Scared of what he was about to say, Hermione leaped across the couch, knocking over the remaining popcorn, and kissed him, ripping off his shirt and shutting him up.

...

The next morning brought a medley of rushed emotions for Hermione. She was relieved to find that she was not snuggled in bed with the man whom she was absolutely not supposed to be snuggling with; she experienced a moment of confusion as she realised she felt truly happy, not just content as she usually did after waking up from a night spent with Draco; then came the burst of fear – she could smell something burning. Grabbing her dressing gown from the back of her door, she ran into the kitchen to find Draco madly fanning the toaster. Finally, she felt hilarity and burst out laughing.

Draco jumped. He had not heard her come in. "What's so funny?" he asked. "I tried to make toast and this blasted muggle contraption almost burnt down your apartment!" he said furiously.

"There are two reasons I'm laughing," she told him, managing to control her laugher enough to speak. "One: even just the thought of you trying to make breakfast of any kind for anyone is very funny. And two: you seem to have forgotten that you are a wizard." Hermione waved her wand and the smoke disappeared. "Why were you trying to make toast anyway?"

"For breakfast." Draco replied stupidly.

"Well yes, but I mean, you never stay for more than a cup of tea."

Draco paused. "It's silly," he said.

"Can't be any sillier than you almost burning down my apartment with a 'blasted muggle contraption'."

"Touché. Okay… I – I was going to make eggs benedict." He pointed to the two orange juice-filled martini glasses waiting on the bench.

The idea that Malfoy had tried to make her breakfast seemed so absurd to Hermione that for a while all she could do was stand and laugh. "Why?" she choked out eventually.

"I thought – It's from – You know – I just wanted – I – " Draco stumbled. "It's from James Bond," he finished lamely.

"I know that. But I still don't understand why," Hermione said, still utterly bewildered. "People blow things up and jump out of planes in James Bond, but I don't see you doing either of those things."

Draco looked at her blankly for a moment, unable to think of an acceptable response. "Sorry, I should have realised you wouldn't want to have breakfast with me anyway. I'll just grab my coat and go." He started heading for the front door but had only taken a few steps when Hermione caught his hand. She couldn't help it; he looked so disappointed and it was finally clear that he was showing her he had changed. No matter how much the logical part of her screamed to let him go, she couldn't let him leave looking so dejected.

"You don't have to leave," she said, flushing slightly. "You might have almost destroyed the place but at least you were doing it with good intentions."

Draco laughed. "Who would have thought burning down a building could be done in a nice way?"

Hermione sat herself at the bench. "I don't know, but I think you were going to make me breakfast. Hop to it, I'm hungry," she grinned.

Draco gave her a bewildered look before trying to fish the still smouldering bread out of the toaster. He had apparently once again forgotten he owned a wand and when he was about to stick a fork in the toaster Hermione went to his rescue.

"STOP! You can't put metal in a toaster! Especially when it's still plugged in!"

Draco froze mid-action and turned around to face Hermione. "What?"

"That toaster is packed full of electricity! The fork is metal. You're going to electrocute yourself! Oh for goodness sake, stop looking at me like a confused little monkey." She waved her wand and the burnt toast flew into the bin. Then she walked over to the fridge, took out some fresh slices of bread and put them in the toaster, making sure to turn the setting down before she turned it on.

As she took a pot out and filled it with water, ready to start cooking the eggs, Draco asked, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Hermione asked, turning to look at him. "I'm making you breakfast." She smiled.

...

"He likes you," Ginny said abruptly..

"What?"

That evening Hermione had called by Harry and Ginny's place. She was glad to find that Harry was not home as it gave her a much needed opportunity to talk to Ginny alone. The girls were sat in the living room in front of the fireplace and Hermione had just finished telling Ginny the events of the past 24 hours.

"He likes you," Ginny said more slowly. "He is regretting this whole fuck budd – friends with benefits thing," she corrected herself at the look she received from Hermione. "He wants more than just the benefits."

"No way!" Hermione protested. "There is no conceivable way that Draco Malfoy likes me."

"Why else would he want to spend time with you when you're both fully clothed? And why in the name of Merlin's most saggy Y-fronts would he try and cook you breakfast at all? Let alone the muggle way!" Ginny stared at Hermione, daring her to argue.

Hermione opened her mouth to do just that, spluttered a few unintelligible words and swallowed the 'impossible' she longed to spit out. She tried to keep eye contact with the girl beside her but couldn't bear the discerning look she was receiving, so instead directed her gaze toward the fire.

As much as Hermione wanted to deny it at all costs – and though she still found it hard to accept that he could ever have any kind of romantic feelings for her – she couldn't argue with Ginny: there really was no explanation as to why Draco had acted the way he had other than that he wanted something more. And it wasn't hard to work out what the something more was.

Hermione took a deep, ragged breath as she realised and accepted that Ginny was, most probably, right. This was bad. This was exactly what she had wanted to avoid. This was not something she wanted to deal with right now – or ever.

"How's it going, training the new chaser?" Hermione asked Ginny.

Ginny raised her eyebrows, but answered Hermione's question without comment; if she was asking about quidditch she must be desperate to change the subject.

"It's great! She's no Angelina, but she fits in really well with the rest of the team and I'm confidant she'll improve even more by the time the season starts again."

Relieved that Ginny had allowed her to change the topic, Hermione tried to get caught up in Ginny's enthusiasm about the Holyhead Harpies, but she couldn't take her mind off this new revelation and what it might mean.

...

After her discussion with Ginny, Hermione began taking more notice of Draco's behaviour. As time went on, Draco seemed to be staying longer at her place in the mornings, not leaving as soon as he finished his cup of tea. On the odd occasion that they met at his place, he would make excuses for Hermione to stay longer: most of these excuses revolved around his vast library which, Hermione was pleasantly surprised to discover, held numerous muggle books, both classics and more recent books – even some biographies of several notable muggle names, including the current British Prime Minister. He seemed happy to let her peruse the shelves while he cooked them both breakfast, always without the use of a muggle toaster. (When Hermione had unintentionally showed her surprise at his ability to cook, Draco had explained that somewhere between leaving home and getting rid of his house elf, he had had the elf teach him how to cook.) Hermione also noticed that they spent much more time talking in the evenings, something that had been kept to a minimum before.

Draco was even running into her at work for reasons which had nothing to do with 'quickies in the broom cupboard'; he was coming to her to discuss Ministry proposals he was working on. These meetings did not appear suspicious to anyone but Hermione as their departments often needed to collaborate on various issues; in the past though, Draco had always made an effort to meet with any other member of Hermione's department.

Though Hermione knew all the extra contact was taking them further and further from their original arrangement of being 'friends (who weren't even friends) with benefits', she found herself looking forward to their conversations. She had always known Draco was intelligent, but had never had a chance to really explore his mind before, and despite herself she was enjoying discussing all manner of things with him. And, making things even more confusing for Hermione, Draco hadn't once brought up blood purity in any of their discussions. She couldn't deny it, she found Draco _interesting_.

She did her best to ignore the many changes in Draco's behaviour. She accepted that Ginny was right – there was a definite possibility Draco was after something more than what their arrangement gave him – but she tried to put it out of her mind. As much as she would deny it to anyone that asked, she quite liked the arrangement she had with Draco. She'd never really given much thought to such things, and whenever it was brought up in conversation or in a movie, she would quickly pass it off as something others might do but wasn't for her. Yet she had to admit, she enjoyed being able to have a bit of fun without the responsibility of commitment. And she didn't want to give it up.

However, as with most problems, ignoring this one did not make it go away. It was when Draco tried to join her for a coffee break in the Ministry Employees' Lounge – and Hermione got up and all but ran out of the room when he sat down – that Hermione knew she couldn't ignore the issue any longer. If her twisted relationship with Draco was to have any chance of continuing, she needed to have a talk with Draco. They needed to establish some ground rules.

The following Friday evening Draco was once again at Hermione's house. She decided before he arrived that now was as good a time as any to broach the subject. As she went to let him in, she promised herself that she wasn't going to let him leave, or distract her in any way, before they had come to some conclusions. So, as soon as he walked in the door and moved to kiss her, Hermione leaned back and put a hand to his chest.

"We need to talk," she said, trying but failing to look him in the eye.

He caught the seriousness of her tone. "I thought the whole point of this" – Draco waved his finger between them – "was that there wouldn't be any of these serious 'we need to talk' situations."

Hermione grimaced and led him to the living area. "I think things have… changed," she said haltingly, dropping onto the couch.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I think – It's just – I've noticed – We spend too much time, well,_ talking_," she mumbled.

"Hey, I didn't decide to have this conversation," Draco laughed, holding up his hands in surrender.

"I'm serious. This whole thing – It's supposed to be all about the sex. You've seen the movie."

"It is, isn't it? The sex is always first. The talking just comes afterwards." He looked at Hermione seriously, almost frowning. "What's this really about?"

"Am I wrong in thinking that –" Hermione broke off and took a deep breath. "That you've started developing feelings for me?" She said rather quickly, looking down at her hands.

"What?" Draco sounded genuinely surprised.

"It's just – you've been acting different recently. We talk a lot more, and you stay later and – Draco we practically had a _date_ the other week!" This time she looked at him and immediately felt like a fool. The surprise and confusion was plain on Draco's face. Ginny had been wrong.

"What?" Draco said again. He scrunched up his face, appearing to think back, trying to work out where he might have given Hermione that message.

"You show me around your library and tell me I can borrow whatever I want, you seek me out at work to talk and on Wednesday you tried to sit down and have coffee with me in front of our co-workers. In front of Harry! It just seemed as though maybe you want more than just the Friends with Benefits thing."

"Oh." Draco was quiet for a minute. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise. But I don't. I mean, I haven't. Developed feelings. What we have, well, it's pretty bloody perfect."

Hermione nodded, but inside she was thoroughly confused. What Draco had just said should have made her happy; it was exactly what she had wanted to hear. So why was she suddenly so disappointed? She nodded silently again, a suspiciously tight feeling in her chest and throat.

"Hermione?" Draco's voice was soft, concerned. "Do you – do you have feelings for me?" he asked gently.

She shook her head vigorously, blinking quickly to hold back the tears threatening their presence. "No. No, that's why I brought it up," she said quietly. They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes before Hermione spoke again. "I'm sorry," she said, finding it hard to speak. "I can't do this right now. I'm not – I'm not feeling too well. I just wanted to make sure we cleared that up. Could you - could you leave, please. Sorry."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Draco asked as he stood up from the couch.

Hermione nodded. She needed him to leave; she would not cry in front of him.

Draco walked to the door silently. As he opened it, he looked back at the girl who hadn't moved from her position on the couch. "Good night, Hermione." He closed the door behind him and finally Hermione let her tears flow.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Here it is! The final chapter! The first time I wrote the ending it was _completely_ different. I re-wrote it at least twice, so I hope you like it.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Over the next few weeks, Hermione tried to come to terms with the fact that she may very well have feelings for Draco Malfoy - unwanted, inconvenient, horrible feelings. It hadn't taken her long to realise why she became so upset when Draco so easily dismissed having any feelings for her; a genius wasn't needed to work that one out, and Hermione was a lot smarter than your average idiot. What she couldn't pinpoint was when these feelings might have popped into being and why she hadn't realised they existed until Draco all but smacked her in the face with them. Hermione usually took comfort in knowing herself incredibly well and it annoyed her that something like this could have slipped by unnoticed. What annoyed her even more though, was that she found herself missing Draco. Actually missing_ Draco Malfoy._

Since she had asked Draco to leave her apartment, Hermione had not had any contact from him. He no longer owled her or sought her out at work and if he happened to be in the Employees' lounge when she walked in he would quickly excuse himself from whoever he was talking to and leave the room. He was avoiding her completely and it just made Hermione feel even worse. She missed talking to him, teasing each other, even just sipping tea together. She began to wonder if perhaps Draco had come to enjoy her company too, and not just in the bedroom. Maybe that was the explanation for his change in behaviour: not because he was beginning to have feelings for her, but simply because he was trying to put the 'Friends' into their Friends with Benefits relationship. This recognition did not do anything to help Hermione's mood. In fact, it made her feel even more the fool: that should have been the obvious explanation! She had ruined something great for no good reason. So what if he didn't feel the same way about her? They could still be friends. She could just suck it up and ignore her feelings. After all, she had experience with that sort of thing, having liked Ron for so many years at Hogwarts. But, she reasoned with herself, she hadn't been sleeping with Ron. Why did sex have to make everything more complicated?

After almost a month of having no contact with Draco, Hermione broke. It was a Sunday morning and she had just woken up from a very vivid dream. She had been in Draco's library, only it wasn't Draco's library – it was the library from Beauty and the Beast, one of Hermione's favourite children's stories. She had been sitting on the floor reading _Tuesdays with Morrie_ when soft music had made her look up from the pages of the book. Draco walked towards her, took her hand and helped her up. He put her book on a side table and then pulled Hermione into a waltz. He was just leaning his head down, looking deep into Hermione's eyes, when she was woken by an owl tapping on her window, wanting to deliver her copy of _The Sunday Prophet_.

Hermione sighed as she sat up and made her way over to the window. This wasn't the first dream like this she'd had in the past month, but it was the most vivid. And it made her realise just how long it had been since she had read her favourite book. After taking the paper and paying the owl, Hermione pulled on her dressing gown and went into the lounge to look through her bookshelf for _Tuesdays with Morrie_. It was a few minutes before she realised she had lent it to Ginny a couple of months back. If for no other reason than to keep her mind off Draco – something Hermione was finding progressively harder to do – Hermione decided to apparate to Ginny's to see if she could get her book back. She quickly showered and dressed and just as she was about to step out the front door when she realised it was only 7.30am. There was no way Harry or Ginny would be awake yet. Hermione resigned herself to waiting a couple of hours before going to visit her friend. During this time she tried to occupy herself with her usual morning activities – breakfast, coffee, brushing and flossing, dishes. However, after reading the paper cover to cover and completing the crossword, Hermione looked at her watch to find it was still only 9:00am. She just couldn't wait any longer so she decided to walk to Grimmauld Place. Only half an hour later, Hermione found herself standing in front of a barely conscious red head.

"Hermione, it's only…" Ginny checked the clock on the mantel. "… 9.30am! On a Sunday! What are you doing here so early?"

"Sorry Gin, but I couldn't sit at home any longer," Hermione apologised before telling Ginny about the dream and the book.

Ginny smiled sadly at Hermione. "I left the book at the Burrow a couple of weeks ago, so if you want it you're going to have to go and see mum."

Hermione cringed. As much as she loved Mrs Weasley, she wasn't in the mood to spill her heart out to her, which she knew would happen as soon as Mrs Weasley wrapped her in one of her amazing comforting hugs.

"Didn't think so," Ginny said. "Now, I think we both know the book isn't the real problem, is it?"

Hermione shook her head sheepishly. Ginny always knew.

Ginny looked at her with exasperated affection and understanding. "Go and talk to him, Hermione," Ginny urged her gently. "Whatever the result, you'll feel better. I promise."

Hermione pressed her lips together and nodded.

Ten o'clock found Hermione standing on Draco's doorstep. Three times she raised her hand to knock before her courage failed her and she lowered it again. She had just raised it a fourth time when the door opened and Draco walked right into her.

"Hermione?" Draco caught her before she fell backwards. "What are you doing here?" His surprise was evident.

Hermione blushed. "I, er, I remembered you said once that, uh, I could borrow a book from your library if, er, if I wanted to."

"I did." Draco's voice was guarded. She couldn't blame him. She hadn't so much as looked at him in a month and now she turned up, unannounced, at his house.

"Well I was, um, wondering if I, er, if I could perhaps, er, borrow a book?" Hermione kept her eyes on her feet.

"Really?" he said flatly, unconvinced." You came to borrow a book?"

"Yes?"

Draco sighed, realising he was going to have to work out why Hermione was there – she wasn't likely to tell him. "Well, come in then. What book did you want to borrow?"

Hermione followed him down the hall. "_Tuesdays with Morrie._ It's by –"

"Mitch Albom." Draco finished for her and walked a few meters before realising Hermione had stopped walking. "What?" He turned back to her.

"You've read _Tuesdays with Morrie_?"

Draco nodded. "It's one of my favourites." He turned around and kept walking but to Hermione's surprise he didn't lead her to the library but to his room.

When he went inside she stopped at the door. "Draco…" she started, but not sure what to say she didn't continue.

He ignored her and walked to his bedside table where he took a book out of the top drawer. "Here," he said, handing it to Hermione.

"Thanks, but are you sure I can borrow it? I mean, it's obviously special if you keep it in your room."

"I'm sure."

They stood in silence for a while, in the doorway to Draco's room where they had spent many a night. Eventually, Hermione spoke. "I'm sorry."

"So am I," Draco said, and he sounded sad. This was enough to make Hermione meet his eyes for the first time in a month.

"Whatever for? I'm the one that ruined everything."

"No, you're not. I wasn't exactly honest with you."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, confused.

Without hesitation, Draco kissed her. Hermione responded by freezing first and then coming to her senses later. She pushed him away, spluttering.

"You can't just say you weren't honest with me and then go ahead and kiss me!" she yelled, completely shocked. He needed to answer her earlier question before she would even think about kissing him again.

"I thought that would answer your question for you," Draco laughed. Very quickly he realised this was the wrong thing to do: Hermione was staring daggers at him. "Err, come with me?" He said, thinking quickly.

"Where are we going?" Hermione huffed, as he started walking down the hall again, not having waited for an answer.

"The library."

A little confused, Hermione followed him. She already had the book she'd pretended to come for, so why were they going to the library?

When they arrived, Draco walked to the middle of the room and turned around to face Hermione. "Can you wait here? I just need to go and get something."

Hermione nodded slowly, now even more confused.

"Thanks. Er, make yourself comfortable. Read anything you like." And with that Draco disappeared out the door hidden beside the staircase.

Hermione walked towards the closest bookshelf and started looking through the books. This section, she realised, was full of wizarding biographies. Her finger crossed all manner of things, from _A long battle with evil: A biography of Gellert Grindelwald_ and _Cornelius Fudge: As Sweet As His Name Suggests?_ to _A History of the Slytherin Line_ and, to her revulsion, _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_. When Draco hadn't returned after five minutes, Hermione pulled down _Shacklebolt's Slow Rise to Minister_ and curled up in one of the armchairs. She had finished the first chapter before she realised Draco was taking an awfully long time to return. Assuming he was just having trouble finding whatever it is he had gone to get, she started on the second chapter. Just as she finished that, and was starting to get worried that he had forgotten about her, or worse wasn't even planning on coming back in the first place, the door opened.

"Hermione?" Draco called when he didn't see her straight away.

"I'm over here," she said, waving at him. "Did you get lost or something?"

"No, I, er, went to get these." He pulled a dozen roses from behind his back and handed them to her.

Hermione looked at them blankly. "Why? And that doesn't explain why you took so long. It only would have taken you two seconds to summon them by magic."

"True, but I didn't get them with magic," Draco told her.

"Evidently. Or it wouldn't have taken you half an hour." Hermione laughed. "But why?"

"I though the muggle way would be more appropriate, given what I got them for."

Hermione hated it when Draco was so cryptic. "Which is..."

"I've wanted to come and see you since you kicked me out, but I thought avoiding me was your way of telling me you didn't want to see me." Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but Draco held up his hand to silence her. "But obviously I was wrong. I know for a fact you own '_Tuesdays with Morrie'_. I've seen it on your bedside table enough times."

Hermione blushed and began to explain about lending the book to Ginny, but once again Draco stopped her.

"What I'm trying to say is, do you – do you want to give us a shot?"

"What?"

"Us. You and me. Being more than friends with benefits." When Hermione only stared back at him, he added, "I thought that was what you wanted. You know, last month, when you asked me about my feelings for you."

"Yes, but I thought you didn't -" Hermione began, but Draco interrupted her.

"I thought so too, but clearly I was wrong."

"Are you – Are you asking me to –"

"To be my girlfriend. Yes."

"But…" Hermione couldn't believe it; surely there had to be a catch.

"No buts, Hermione," Draco said.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

Draco leaned down to kiss Hermione, but she put a finger to his lips.

"Hold that thought," she said, before walking out of the library, the roses clutched in her hand. She came back without the roses five minutes later to see Draco sitting on the same armchair she had occupied while waiting for him. His elbows rested on his knees, his head in his hands. "Why do you look so sad?" she asked him.

He looked up and his face brightened. "You left."

"I wanted to put the flowers in water," Hermione informed him.

"You're a witch aren't you? You could have just zapped up a vase and some water."

"I thought the muggle way would be more appropriate," she smirked.

Before Draco could respond, she closed the space between them, pushed him back down onto the armchair and firmly attached her lips to his. After a minute, he broke away from her just long enough to say, "You know that you'll have to teach me to make such delicious tea without magic?"

* * *

**A/N:** So there you have it. Please review to let me know what you think. :)

I'm not sure yet whether I'll be writing a sequel to this. I'd like to, but it all depends on if I can get an idea I'm happy to run with. I'll add an update to this story if I do end up publishing a sequel though, so if you'd be interested in reading it, add this one to your alerts.

For now though, bye! Happy reading wherever it may be. :)


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